


Take One For The Team (Again and Again) [[HIATUS]]

by TheLittleTrashCat



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adam/Shiro (Voltron) Reunion, Altean Keith (Voltron), Altean Matt Holt, Altean Pidge | Katie Holt, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ass-Kicking, Attempt at Humor, Attempted Kidnapping, Attempted Murder, Attempted Seduction, Author Is Sleep Deprived, BAMF Allura (Voltron), BAMF Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Blood and Gore, Cat/Human Hybrids, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Everyone Has Issues, Everyone Needs A Hug, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff and Angst, Galra Keith (Voltron), Genius Lance (Voltron), Heavy Angst, Hiatus, How Do I Tag, Human Allura (Voltron), Human Coran (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), I Don't Even Know, I Made Myself Cry, I Tried, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Sorry, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Lance (Voltron) Needs a Hug, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Long-Term Relationship(s), Matt Holt is a Good Sibling, Multi, Multilingual Character, Multilingual Lance (Voltron), My First Work in This Fandom, Nicknames, Oblivious Lance (Voltron), On Hiatus, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Lance (Voltron), Pansexual Matt Holt, Pining Lance (Voltron), Platonic Cuddling, Protective Adam (Voltron), Protective Shiro (Voltron), Protective Team, Purring, Rebel Matt Holt, Sad Lance (Voltron), Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Space Battles, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Space Mom Allura (Voltron), Space Pirates, Space Uncle Coran (Voltron), Team Bonding, Team as Family, Temporary Character Death, The Author Regrets Nothing, Time Loop, Time Shenanigans, Time Skips, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Touch-Starved, Touch-Starved Lance (Voltron), Villain Character Death, Winged Shiro (Voltron), Wings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2019-09-30 05:47:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17218160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLittleTrashCat/pseuds/TheLittleTrashCat
Summary: And when Lance shot out of bed, his Garrison dorm room sat before him, a teasing image full of spite, and Hunk, young, naive and unmuscled, met his haunted gaze with a concerned one, that's when he knew. A Paladin of Voltron to a Garrison Cadet.Three words.Legends never die.[[HIATUS]]





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pyr0_Kat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pyr0_Kat/gifts).



Heavy breathing. Echoing footsteps. Amused chuckles.

 

“Any last words?” 

 

And there are. Three words. Three measly words. The offender sands tall, revolver like pistol in in hand, the end of the barrel aimed directly on his head. There is no escape. But there is.

 

Three words. 

 

Screams fall into deaf silence over comms. Only furious roars and explosions, sounds of laser fire made it to the boy. They vibrated his skull and wrapped around his very being. 

 

Concerned.

 

Angry.

 

Indignant. 

 

Scared. 

 

Fearless.

 

But there is no fear for the boy to obtain. Comforting purrs make sure of that. 

 

Three words. To change it all. All it took was three words. These words would echo throughout the known universe. Every nook and every cranny. He could feel the pull of his soul and his conscious as he thought of them. It was one at first. Calm and collected, steadfast and very, very, adaptable. Smooth and comforting. Protective. Yet raging in fury. Loyal. Then it was two. Chaotic and fierce, dependable, protective. Irritating and endearing. Stubborn. Yet loving and caring. Impulsive. Then it was three. Sweet and kind, anxious yet caring. Steady and strong. A comforting presence, really. Then it was four. Curious, inquisitive, yet fiercely loyal. An unquenchable thirst for knowledge, and a hunger to protect. 

 

And then it was five. 

 

Strong, Dependable, loyal and caring. Always there, a light in the dark. Steadying. Calm and collected, cool like ice, but cold like fire. 

 

Screams. Roars.

 

They filled his skull, waves of emotion so very deep. It was chaos. Names of the newly dead falling in broken sobs from trembling lips. Radio static. All dead but one. From five to one. Silence. Dead silence.

 

Three words. 

 

Three words, measly in their existence, carrying so much in their meaning. Three words to greatly affect his life, or afterlife. Change anything, change everything. Yes. Three words to change it. All of it. Three words to defy all. 

 

He raised his head in defiance, face determined and set, regardless of the pain shown across it.  

 

Three words.

 

“Legends never die.”

 

The gunshot rang throughout the ship, signaling his end. But as the puller of the trigger moved to leave, he was stopped. The boy was dead, for certain. The shot had blown through his brain. But that wasn't true.

 

Three words.

 

The pirate stopped as a figure began to form around the boy. A Blue Lion, transparent and ethereal, Stardust sparkling around her. Curled around the boy like he was her cub. As he was. The man stared in awe and shock as four more Lioness appeared. Black, Red, Green and Yellow. They formed a semi circle around the boy, power and anger radiating off of them. They would show no mercy. Fear was now installed in him as the Blue Lion crept closer to him. And when she lunged, no one was alive nor around to hear his screams of agony. 

 

Three words.

 

And when Lance shot out of bed, his Garrison dorm room sat before him, a teasing image full of spite, and Hunk, young, naive and unmuscled, met his haunted gaze with a concerned one, that's when he knew. A Paladin of Voltron to a Garrison Cadet.

 

Three words.

 

Legends  _ never _ die.

  
  



	2. The start of something terrible.

Lance had been having a normal day, which was odd.

 

Well. His new kind of normal.

His old normal certainly hadn't involved flying sentient robot lions.

 

There had been a distress signal from some planet, not because of the Galra, strangely enough, but because of some half alien half human space pirate. After all that Lance had been through, the space pirate part wasn't surprising. It was the fact that they were half human that was surprising. His name was Virox, and apparently he was a wanted man in the system he was from. A very, very wanted man. Who had connections, too. He had a sizeable fleet of ships, with some impressive firepower. That in of itself was concerning, but none more than the fact that he had managed to take control over a quarter of the system he was in (thankfully it was small). Which was…different, then what they were used too. Some research (Pidge hacking the troop logs) revealed that, for the most part, only the pilots of his personal Fleet and the occupants of his ship were following him willingly, as most were recorded to only have joined for money or from blackmail, which meant all they had to do was take him out and then they could get back to the intergalactic space war at hand. After some long, inevitable, boring diplomacy, of course. Now, normally they would prioritize other distress signals such as a Galra controlled planet, over one's like this one. They were defenders of the universe, not bounty hunters for fucks sake! It was the fact that they hadn't had a distress signal in a while (which was concerning, at least to him), and the fact that the system had several planets that would make perfect additions to the Coalition that had pushed them to take action on that signal. So, they had dutifully answered and flown into the system. The plan was simple, really. Take out the fleet and disable the ship's main weapons and thrusters, then infiltrate the ship and take out the head honcho so justice could be served. Simple, right?

 

Wrong.

 

The plan had gone south very quickly.

 

To start, they had a tractor cannon. Can you guess what they did with it? Yep, you guessed, they dragged Blue into the hanger of their main ship. But no, that wasn't all.

 

They had tech that could fuking disable the Lions.

 

Which left Lance, alone, stuck in a malfunctioning Lion in an enemy ship. Which was fine. He could wait. Wasn't preventing them from forming Voltron at all.

 

Really, all he could do was ofer commentary as his team skillfully took down the fleet of smaller ships, but even then, it wasn't really helpful commentary, like, at all. So all he could do is sit and twiddle his thumbs.

 

But of course, just as it seemed like everything was going right, the ships weapon systems came on with a loud whir.

 

“Uh, guys?” he asked nervously.

 

“Not now, Lance! We're almost done here, so if you could please shut up, that'd be great!” Keith snapped. Lance couldn't help the small flinch that followed his words. He cleared his throat and tried again.

 

“I know but I think th-”

 

“Oh my god will you please shut up!” Keith cut him off with an irritated snarl. Lance could hear the whirl of what he assumed was the giant railgun start to speed up.

 

“No, seriously I think somethings wrong,” he said quickly, panic starting raise in his chest.

 

“What could possibly-”

 

“Keith wait, I think he might be right,” Pidge interrupted. Suddenly, Lance felt the ship lurch under his feet. He froze as a groan resounded through the ship, before he was flung backwards.

 

“Keith, watch out!” Hunk shouted fraintiactly. All was silent, before a scream of pain and a large boom echoed through the coms.

 

“ _KEITH_!”

 

Lance froze.

 

No.

 

“K-Keith?” he asked, hatting how small he sounded. There was no response. The comm was scarily quiet, until:

 

“Hunk, get Red out of hear,” Shiro ordered quietly.

 

“Oh my god,” Hunk whispered. Then, louder, “Oh my god. I- oh my god. O-okay.”

 

The comm once more was silent apart from heavy breathing.

 

“Lance,” Pidge began, voice deathly calm, “I'm gonna get you out of there. And when I find that Virox bastard, I am going to _kill him_ ,” she snarled. Lance's breath hitched in his throat.

 

“N-no, Pidge, that's a stupid idea, please don't!” he pleaded, but she didn't listen. He heard a heavy thud beside him, and he realized immediately that it was Pidge. Lance could only watch in dismay as she climbed out her lion and landed on the hanger floor, instantly getting rushed by the space pirates. They surround her easily, attacking from all sides. Lance watched as she fought. It almost seemed like she was going to win. Most of the pirates had been defeated, all but two, but of course everything had to go wrong. He watched, helpless to do anything as one of the pirates skillfully snuck behind her and raised their sword to strike.

 

“PIDGE!” he shrieked, but it was too late. The sword made contact with her armor, slicing through it like it was warm butter. Pidge let out a pained shriek and collapsed into a boneless heap on the floor, sword sticking out of her side like it belonged there. Lance jerked onto his feet and, by some small stroke of luck, Blue managed to open her mouth just enough to let him tumble to the ground. He barely felt the pain shoot up his legs as he quickly raised his rifle and shot the remaining enemies in the head. He bolted across the hanger and fell onto his knees next to Pidge’s body.

 

“No, no, nonono no no no, no!” Lance shouted fraintiactly. He gently shook her. “Please be okay please be okay please be okay,” he chanted, grabbing Pidge’s arm and feeling for a pulse. He gasped as Pidge turned her head and coughed, blood spilling from her lips.

 

“L-Lance,” she groaned, “T-Tell-”

 

“No, no, save your breath Pidge, I'm gonna get you out of here,” Lance assured, trembling hands moving about frantically, unsure of what to do.

 

“T-Tell the team…. I'm sorry,” Pidge croaked, lifting her head.

 

“Nonono Pidge don't say that,” he said, fighting back tears.

 

“A-And tell..my family... that I love them.. and I'm sorry-” Pidge's voice cracked.

 

“... Pidge?” Tears fell down his face as she made eye contact with him, raising a shaking hand to brush a tear away from his cheek.

 

“I'm sorry...I can't be there..  when..we get home.” With a final gasping breath, Pidge's head fell back, the light in her eyes dying.

 

“ _PIDGE!”_

 

His entire body shook with hysterical sobs as he broke, pressing his head against her, cradling her lifeless form to his chest. He could distantly hear his comm crackle to life, but he could care less. “Pidge,” he sobbed, a broken whisper. The sound of heavy footfall made his head snap up, his entire body tensing, only to reveal Hunk, who stood there, horrified, Yellow frozen behind him. He burst into tears, turning to the side to empty his stomach. Lance could hear his best friend start to bawl, but all he could focus on was Pidge as he hung his head.

 

“O-Oh oh, oh god oh god. Oh my god,” Hunk chanted. “S-She...oh god…no...oh god ..n-no...” The faint sound of footsteps made Lance raise his head, and through tear filled eyes he saw the blurry image of another pirate. He opened his mouth to shout, scream, anything. But all that came out was a broken sob. And before he could blink, the pirate raised their gun.

 

Time seemed to slow as the shot fired. He could hear himself scream his best friends name, but it was too late. The blast flung him clear back to his lion where he made contact with a sickening crunch, head lolling to the side.

 

“ _HUNK!_ ”

 

He scrambled to his feet and charged at the pirate, Bayard in hand. He faintly registered it changing into a sword, but at that moment, nothing else mattered. This, this _thing_ before him had killed his best friend. Lance saw red. He sliced and hacked, punching, kicking and slicing everything that moved. He had no mercy, killing everything that moved as the tears poured down his face. When a hand landed on his shoulder, he nearly chopped it off. Spinning around, he was met with Shiro, his Galra hand lit up, body poised in a defensive stance. Tear were gathered in the corner of his eyes, a few making their way down his cheeks.

 

“Lance... please.. stop,” Shiro pleaded, taking a hesitant step forward. He was acting like Lance was a wild animal, like he would snap and attack him at any moment

 

The sword slipped from his grasp and clattered to the floor.

 

He surged forward and pulled Shiro into a embrace, sobbing.

 

“I'm s-so sorry,” he choked out, “t-this is all my fault.” Shiro's grip tightened.

 

“It's _not_ your fault.” The crack in his voice seems to tell Lance otherwise.

 

“ _Yes it is_!” he wailed. “If I hadn't got Blue tractored into the ship, we would’ve been able to form Voltron and none of this would have happened!” he sobbed.

 

“ _No_ , Lance. It isn't your fault. There's nothing you could have done” he insisted, tilting Lance head up so he could make eye contact.

 

“B-But...Pidge is dead! And Hunk...oh god...is he..?” Lance felt a sinking fear dawn on him. Shiro nodded solemnly.

 

“He...he wasn't conscience for very long, he skull was cracked, for fucks sake, but...he told me, to tell you that it wasn't your fault… and that there was nothing you could have d-done,” Shiro's voice broke, but he carried on, “a-and Keith...he...he said...that he never hated you, and that you were always the better Paladin.” Lance buried his into Shiro's shoulder.

 

“No.. I'm not..Keith..is he..?” Shiro gulped.

 

“He.....he didn't make...Red..she got.. completely...obliterated. Keith might have made it b-but,” he swallowed heavily again, “a broken rib punctured his lung and he-” Shiro cut off with a sob, burying his face in Lance's shoulder. The stood there, in each others arms for what felt like hours, until Lance suddenly pulled away from the embrace.

 

“Lance?” Shiro asked, voice small as he watched Lance furiously wiped the tears away from his face. He reached down to grasp his Bayard, stood up and looked Shiro dead in the eyes.

 

“When I find that Virox bitch I’m going to fucking kill him,” he said, voice cold and emotionless. Shiro's eyes widened.

 

“No, Lance, you can't-” Shiro stops suddenly with with a strangled cry, eyes slowly trailing down to the spear now protruding from his chest. Lance froze in horror.

 

“S-Shiro?” He locked eyes with his hero.

 

“L-Lance….when you get to Earth,” he gasped, a choked inhale, falling against Lance's chest, “Te-ll Adam...that I lo-ve him.” Shiro went limp in his arms, Lance slowly teetering back until he fell to the floor. He stared wide eyed at his leader, before shoving Shiro’s dead body off his chest, scrambling back to _getawaygetaway_ from all the death, the _deathdeathdeath._ His breath was coming in short quick gasps as he stared at Shiro's body in horror. _Hyperventilation_ , a part his brain supplied, sounding suspiciously like Shiro and god wasn't that ironic, _you're going to pass out if you don't calm down and breathe deeply_.

 

He ignored it. Because standing in front of him was figure, a cocky grin on their lips. Lance slowly dragged his eyes up, and locked eye contact with them.

 

Lance screamed.

 

His sword swung wildly.

 

Time passed in a blur. He didn't know what he was doing, all he knew was these people caused the _deathdeathdeath_ and they needed to _diediedie_. He was only distantly aware of what he was doing.

 

Until...he found _him_.

 

“ _Virox,”_ he snarled. The pirate only smirked, unsheathing his own sword.

 

“Well, well, well. Look what we have here. The Paladins of Voltron, defeated by a group of space pirates. How pathetic,” Virox spat. Lance got into a battle stance. Virox mimmed surprise. “Oh, you want to fight? Why? We both know you're just going to die. However, if you were to perhaps...surrender, perhaps we could come to an agreement on your...future.”

 

“ _Never!_ ” he spat as they began to circle around each other.

 

“Oh my, never? That's such a...strong word, are you sure you want to use it?” Virix asked sweetly, voice filled with fake concern.

 

“Shut up!” Lance roared, and before he knew he was rushing forward,  swing his sword towards Virox, who easily blocked it with a laugh. With a growl, Lance swung his sword again. They fought viciously, constantly switching from offensive to defensive.

 

“You sure have a lack of friends, Blue Paladin,” Virox commented as their blades crashed together with a clang once more, “which means there's no one to come save you,” he laughed darkly, leg flying towards his chest. Lance grunted ss the kick sent him flying, Bayard skidding across the floor. He lied there out of breath, bruised, and battered. His heart pounded and mind raced. He  refused to believe hus friend were sll dead, but everything he had saw and heard said otherwise. His chest ached, his head throbbed. But none were as prominent as the burning behind his eyes, the lump in his throat and the gaping hole in his heart. He could feel the tears fall cheeks as he laid in front off the pirate, trembling like a child in a thunderstorm. The man laughed, he _laughed_ , and Lance felt his blood boil, and he moved to grab his Bayard…..but what was the use? Everything he had left in space was….gone. Just like that.

 

He felt... empty.

 

He didn't want to believe what he already knew. He had seen almost everyone's death with his own eyes, and had done nothing to stop it. What was the point of fighting for his own life when he had nothing left to fight for?  He lowered his head in defeat, tears of shame mixing with those of grief.

 

What was the use of continuing to fight?

 

He couldn't defend Earth; not like this.

 

He could hear Allura and Coran scream his and the others’ names, it sounded like they were crying. The Lions were roaring furiously, shaking the entire ship. He could feel them all enter his mind, trying desperately to comfort him, assuring him they would get him out of there. But underneath they were scared, he could feel it. They purred frantically in his mind, trying to reassure him. He supposed it was working.

 

He felt numb.

 

Everything had gone quite.

 

All he could hear was his own rapid breathing mixed with sobs. Virox’s footsteps echoed ominously. His chuckles filled the silent ship as he aimed his pistol at Lance's head.

 

“Any last words?

 

Lance almost laughed.

 

It was such a cliche thing to ask. He could hardly believe that someone actually said that in real life, to him.

 

When he was younger, he always knew what he would say if he was ever asked that question. He would say as a final act of defiance, something for the people he's made an impact on to remember him by. That was, assuming they ever knew what would say. Everyone in his family knew, he had told them all when he first heard that stupid phrase. He wasn't sure if Allura and Coran knew what it was, but he didn't care. They could probably look at security footage anyway He raised his head, face set in determination as he glared at Virox. Virox tilted his head, almost challenging him. Lance accepted.

 

“Legends never die.”

 

It was such a freeing thing to say, somehow.

 

And as Virox pulled the trigger, Lance could only feel proud at all he had accomplished in his life, no matter how young he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ngl i cried a bit while writing this. also, double posting just bc i felt bad leaving yall with so little to read. 
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> also the amount of time i accidentally wrote shito instead of shiro almost ruined it for me.


	3. The awakening of a heart.

Lance was drowning. His lungs screamed. His chest tightened. His ears roared. His eyes stung. The frozen chill burned his skin. He was sinking, down, down, down. His limbs wouldn't move. He could only see black, black, Black.

 

Black?

 

Black!

 

Purple illuminated him, a harsh yet effective glow against the darkness. It hurt, yes, but it softened over time, a wave of protection and care washing over him. 

 

He could breathe once more.

 

He didn't inhale or exhale, but somehow oxygen entered his lungs. His chest loosened. It was... freeing, somehow. A warm breeze ruffled his hair gently. He felt free, like he could go wherever he pleased, reach to the sky and beyond, climb the highest mountain and soar above the clouds, go up through the atmosphere, and explore the world, conquer every challenge. He felt excited, ready to take on the world.

 

And yet for how much he loved being free to fly solo...he felt lost. He had nowhere to call home.

 

Home?

 

What was home? Who was home?

 

Who was  _ he? _

 

He was...Black?

 

No, that didn't seem right.

 

Who was he?

 

Lance searched the endless depths, looking for a hint, a clue, something.

 

There was nothing.

 

But...wait, there. Right there. A flash of green. It filled him like the purple did. It took his breath away, gave him a sense of serenity he had never felt before. He felt at peace with himself, and world around him. He felt the power to create and destroy at his fingertips. He felt like a part of something greater, small, insignificant, yet powerful. A thing, so capable to create and destroy, able to make or break everything. Insignificant, yet not.

 

The roaring in his ears had ceased, but it left behind a deafening silence. One he couldn't stand. 

 

He was...Green?

 

No, he wasn't Green either.

 

He missed home.

 

Lance was free. He could do anything, go anywhere, make anything, and destroy everything.

 

But he was all alone, with no place to call home. No one to love him, no one for him to love.

 

What was love? Who was love?

 

Who was he?

 

He didn't know. He had no one to tell him as he drifted in the abyss, all alone, alone, alone.

 

He was fluid. He wasn't solid.

 

He wanted to be solid.

 

What was solid?

 

Solid was caring. It wrapped him in comfort and care. It knew what he wanted, when he wanted. 

 

Why wasn't he solid? Why couldn't he be? Was he destined to be fluid forever?

 

Suddenly...

 

He felt giddy. He hadn't felt this happy and cared for in... forever.

 

What was forever?

 

What was ever?

 

What was time? 

 

A way to life to its fullest, the flash of yellow that filled him, told him. He was happy doing what he was doing, and that's what mattered. But making others happy was important too. He felt grounded. He felt like he and his problems mattered. He felt steady, and powerful. Reliable, he felt calm and patient. He felt….loved. And cared for.

 

He felt movement fill his limbs.

 

He was...Yellow?

 

No, that wasn't right either. 

 

Lance was cold. His limbs burned and ached, and he felt...lethargic. 

 

He was free, could create and destroy, had a place to call home, but…

 

He had no motivation. 

 

He was, so, so, so, cold. 

 

A flash of red. 

 

He felt...warm. He was plunged into a hearth fire, the flames licking over his frozen skin. He felt protected. He felt ambitious. He could feel adrenaline pumping in his veins. He felt ready to take the world on headfirst with no remorse, ready to take risks and live a little. He felt motivated and tense as a coil, ready to spring into action at any moment. He felt spontaneous, and hyper. He was excited and full of energy, ready to take impulsive actions left and right, live life on the edge. He also felt overprotective, and violent, with no patience and a tendency to be harsh.

 

His body temperature slowly returned to normal, and he felt warm and happy.

 

He was...Red?

 

No, he probably wasn't. Close, but not close enough.

 

He needed to go deeper. 

 

….No…

 

He needed to go  _ up. _

 

There was light up. Blue light.

 

Blue light…

 

He felt calm and wise. He could felt the depths of ocean waves within him, he could feel it in his bones. He was energetic, and crazy. He was calm and chaotic, ever changing. He could bring peace, joy and happiness, but he could also destroy everything in his path, rip happiness from someone's soul and turn their entire lives upside down. He was a weapon of mass destruction, able to destroy and kill thousands. But he didn't. He was calm, and fun. He was rough when he needed to be, but even then it was nothing compared to what he was capable of. He was silent and dangerous, but instead he chose to be energetic and loud. His choice.

 

His choice…

 

He was Blue.

 

Lance's eyes opened. He was floating, stars all around him, splotches of color painting the world around him in shades of Black, Green, Yellow, Red and Blue. He felt so strange, yet it felt so...nice. But, he was filled with so much emotion, and he had no outlet. This was the best he had felt ever, but...he wanted to escape. He wanted to free, to explore and live a little, create and destroy, and embrace love 

 

Because...he was Blue. He was fluid.

 

But beyond that, he was Lance.

 

He was Lance. 

 

He  _ was  _ Lance?

 

He was confused.

 

Why must he be himself previously? Why must he to be trapped here, in the abyss, as a was? Why not an is? He didn't want his existence to have been a previous occurrence. He wanted to  _ live.  _ He wanted to be alive.

 

He wasn't alive.

 

_ Why wasn't he alive? _

 

He whimpered. 

 

A purr came in response.

 

He clutched onto that response, chasing after it. He chased after it, following it through the cosmos. He didn't register his memories that he was going past, didn't acknowledge the carnage that trailed in his wake.

 

He needed to find her. He needed to find Blue. 

 

He chased and chased for years upon years, but he didn't give up. He knew he would find her eventually.

 

Another purr. A different direction.

 

_ No. Not yet. Me first. Blue first. Then you. First Blue. _

 

Another purr. Understanding. Same direction. Acknowledgement. Three new ones, three new purrs, much like three new words.

 

Why was that important? 

 

Nevertheless, he went on, continued forth.

 

He chased.

 

_ Soon... _

 

Adrenaline filled his veins.

 

_ Closer.. _

 

He felt free. 

 

_ Closer.. _

 

His fingertips tingle.

 

_ So close.. _

 

He felt phantom weight press on his back.

 

_ Almost there... _

 

He felt like... himself.

 

Lance's eyes flew open.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> note cannon is to be yeeted out the window later on so be preparedness


	4. The beginning of it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have an exceptional passing into 2019 all.

Lance shot out of his bed, eyes wide and full of tears. He frantically searched his surroundings, and he was met with his Garrison dorm. He gasped, gripping his sheets with white knuckle grip.

 

“Lance?” a concerned voice asked. Lance jumped, scrambling against the wall in panic. His eyes jumped around the room once again, landing on Hunk. “Lance?” Hunk asked again, worried. He shook his head frantically as he began to curl in on himself, starting to shake.

 

“H-Hu-Hunk?” he gasped out, tears pouring down his cheeks. Hunk’s eyes widened. He moved to comfort his friend, frowning when Lance curled in on himself more.

 

“Lance? Bud? What's wrong?” he asked, sitting down an arms length away from his friend. Lance shot forward, wrapping his arms around his best friend. Hunk froze for a second, before returning the hug. He held him tight as Lance began to let out broken sobs, burying his face in Hunk’s shoulder. “Shh. Shhh,” Hunk soothed, rubbing circles in his back. He slowly began to rock them back and forth.

 

“Lance, bud, do you want to tell me what happened?” he asked, after a few minutes had past.

 

“I-I-I-hic-y-you-you-hic-you d-died! A-And I-hic-it's m-my fault! If I-If I had-hic-just d-done some-s-something different, maybe-” Lance cut himself of with a sob, lips trembling.

 

“Hey hey hey, none of that, it's okay. It's not your fault. Nothing happened. I'm still here, I'm not going anywhere,” Hunk assured.

 

“B-But I-”

 

“No buts! I'm still here, and that's what matters. I'm okay, you're okay, everything is okay,” he reached a hand up to comb through Lance's hair. They sat like that for what felt like an eternity, until Lance _finally_ calmed down. Glancing over at the digital clock revealed that it was 6:30, 45 minutes until the wake up bell, and half an hour before you could go and get breakfast early. Which...was probably the earliest Lance had woken up, ever. Speaking of Lance, he heastintly pulled away from the embrace, wiping tears from his eyes.

 

“S-Sorry,” he apologized, still looking shaken up. Hunk gave him a reassuring smile.

 

“It's okay. Hey, how about you go wash up in the bathroom,” he suggested. Lance nodded, standing up.

 

“Y-Yeah, I'll go do that.”

 

“Do you want me to go with you?” Hunk asked. After a moment, where it seems like Lance was _actually_ considering it, he shook his head.

 

“Nah. I'll be fine.” _I think._

 

With that, Lance grabbed what he needed and exited his dorm room to bare halls of the Galaxy Garrison. He let out a shaky sigh as he trudged to the bathroom on trembling legs  When he finally got there, he paused for a second, shaking hands gripping his towel with white knuckles. Shaking his head vigorously, he stepped inside, making his way over to the showers, quickly undressing and turning the water on. He stood under the showerhead, cold water cascading down his shoulders. He scrubbed his scalp and body with more force than was necessary, mind whirling.

 

 _‘Jesus...god, we died, how are we not dead...I watched them die, they should be dead, why aren't we dead?’_ Blue purred soothingly in his mind.

 

 _’No, Lance. You are not dead.’_ Lance's jaw fell open.

 

 _‘You can talk?!’_ he exclaimed in his mind, the revelation momentarily pausing his panicking.

 

_‘Yes, I can.’_

 

 _‘Okay but...what the hell happened? I...I died, Blue. We all did. So how the hell am I at the Garrison?’_ he asked. Silence.

 

_'Uhh…’_

 

 _’Blue..?’_ he asked cautiously.

 

 _'Um, I may or may not have sent you back in time?’_ Lance froze, double blinking.

 

_‘What?’_

 

 _‘I know it isn't ideal, but...hey, at least you're all alive?’_ Blue joked feebly. Lance let out a heavy sigh, leaning against the stall wall for support.

 

‘ _How long do I have until we go to space?’_ he asked, feeling panic starting to set in.

 

 _‘Approximately the rest of today!’_ a new voice cheerfully exclaimed, making Lance yelp and smack his head against the wall.

 

_‘Who the hell are-?’_

 

 _‘The names Red. Pleased to meet you, Lance.’_ Said Lance dug his fingers painfully into his scalp, feeling a panic attack coming on.

 

 _'Uh...Lance? Are you okay?’_ Blue asked. Lance shook his head vigorously.

 

“No, I am, so far from okay,” he responded aloud, breathing starting to speed up, “I just fucking died-and I watched my friends die-and I-”

 

 _‘Hey, calm down. You're okay. Your name is Lance McLain, you're 17 years old, and in approximately 16 hours you're going to blasted into space with the opportunity to make everything better than it was last time.’_ Lance nodded along absently, sliding down the wall of the shower. He placed a hand on his chest to calm his fast beating heart.

 

 _'Green?’_ Red and Blue exclaimed simultaneously.

 

 _/'Yo,’/_ said lion responded.

 

“This is ridiculous,” Lance choked out, “I'm literally back in time. I have more than one lion in my head and I watched my friends die and-” Lance cut himself off with a shiver and a shaky inhale.

 

 _‘I agree, the other lions are very ridiculous,’_ another voice quipped.

 

 _‘Wait, Black?’_ Green asked in disbelief.

 

“Oh my fucking god,” Lance breathed, leaning his head against the wall.

 

 _‘Y'know I think if you would all just chill out and let Lance adjust this whole process would be much easier,’_ a new voice, presumably Yellow said.

 

 _‘Yeah, you should all shut up,’_ Blue agreed eagerly.

 

_‘You too, Blue’_

 

 _‘Aw, man.’_ Lance let out a choked chuckle.

 

“I..I see what you guys are doing….thanks,” he said gratefully.

 

 _‘No problem, Lance,’_ they responded as one, and he could feel them retreat to the back of his mind. He let out another shaky sigh and stood, turning off the water. He quickly dressed himself in a fresh Garrison uniform and stepped out, walking briskly towards the sinks to put in new contacts. He gripped the metallic edge tightly, staring at his reflection. His eyes were red and bloodshot, with dark bags under them. He had tear tracks down his cheeks, and his lips were still trembling slightly. He forced himself to take a few deep breaths, before pushing away and exiting the bathroom. His footsteps echoed in the empty halls as he made his way to his dorm, passing the occasional student or staff member. He almost took a wrong turn a few times, but a nudge from Blue prevented him from getting lost. When he entered his dorm room, Hunk was there waiting. It still hurt to look at him, the memory of him slamming against his Lion still fresh in his mind, but it was more bearable now.

 

“Hey,” Hunk greeted with a nod, “Feeling any better?” Lance nodded.

 

“Yeah, a lot better. Thanks.”

 

“Sooooo, breakfast?” Lance felt his mouth water at the thought of _food._ Actual food, that wasn't food goo. It didn't matter that the Garrison food was shity, it was _food._ So, in response, Lance grabbed Hunk's arm and yanked him towards the cafeteria.

 

“Woah! Woah! Slow down there buddy!” Lance ignored him, instead opting to keep dragging him along. When they finally got there, Lance let go of Hunk's arm in favor of grabbing a tray. Hunk trailed after him as he grabbed his own tray and filled it with food.

 

“Hey Pidge,” Hunk greeted their small friend as the duo sat down.

 

“Hey,” she replied, not looking up from poking at her omelette, a habit that she carried into space. Lance froze, tears springing to his eyes. _Pidge._

 

_The sword made contact with her armor, slicing through it like it was warm butter. Pidge let out a pained shriek and collapsed into a boneless heap on the floor, sword sticking out of her side like it belonged there. He jerked to feet and-_

 

“Lance!” Lance was knocked out of his flashback by shout, causing him to jump and nearly fall out of his chair. Hunk grabbed his arm to steady him.

 

“S-Sorry,” he stammered, pulling his arm away.

 

“Why are you sorry?” Pidge snapped, “Is because you want to be 'manly’? You were having a flashback for fucks sake!” Lance gave a jerky shrug, averting his eyes.

 

“I don't know..I just, ugh,” Lance sighed, rubbing his eyes.

 

“He uh, he had a nightmare. I died in it, soo, maybe you were in it too? And seeing you again reminded him of it?” Hunk suggested weekly. Lance nodded.

 

“Yeah, sh-he was in it,” he confirmed, tripping over his words. Pidge shot him a look of surprise at the slip up, and was about to ask, but stopped herself. She had a feeling that was a discussion that should be had in private, away from prying eyes and ears.

 

“Okay, I guess that makes sense, but...that must have been one hell of a nightmare,” Pidge said, frowning over her food at him. Lance gave a weak chuckle.

 

“It was.” They ate in silence after that, the cafeteria slowly beginning to fill up. When the wake up bell rang, Lance flinched. Pidge eyed him in suspicion, eyes narrowed. He was eating in large, ravenous bites, and wasn't complaining. Suspicious…

 

“So,” Pidge began, watching Lance's face for reactions, “In your nightmare,” he looked up, eyes wide, “Was anyone else there? Did they die too?” she asked. He looked conflicted.

 

“Yeah,” he eventually said, voice small. Hunk gave her a warning look, and Pidge winced. Even she could tell he didn't want to talk about it, so she decided to change the topic.

 

“Oh. Uh. Anyone else excited to crash simulator today?” Lance actually perked up at that, score for Pidge!

 

“Nah, I'm ready to complete it, flawless,” he flashed a cocky grin, albeit a shaky one.

 

Pidge snorted. “Yeah, like that'll happen. No offense, but you suck.”

 

“Pidge!” Hunk scolded. The trio bursted into laughter. Maybe they wouldn't do so bad this time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finnaly some fucking plot amiright
> 
>  
> 
> also thank you for your nice comments! i might not reply but i do read them so thank you!


	5. T1: The Rise of Voltron: Part 1 of Ep. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we are, the first half(ish? really quarter) of ep uno. also; long(er) chapter woho!
> 
> also we pretend that Matt has always been taller than Lance bc my smol blue boi need to be held okay 👍

Breakfast passed fairly uneventfully after that, with Pidge and Hunk conversing about the possibility of wormholes being used for safe travel. There were several times were he wanted to interject with a fact, and he desperately wanted to use his experience as an example, but he forced himself to keep his mouth shut. They still believed that he didn't understand what they were saying, and for now he intended to keep that way. So instead, he busied himself with talking to the lions.

 

 _‘Hello?’_ he asked tentatively, poking at their presence with his mind. He got five welcoming purrs in response, causing a soft smile to form on his lips. He was pretty sure let out a full body vibrate too (they all did that in space), if the strange look Pidge gave him was anything to go by.

 

 _‘Hello, Lance,’_ they greeted, and wow they sounded clearer then they had before. We he had first heard the lions talk, they had sounded dull and monotonous, without any personality  to them. Now though, they sounded as clear as another person. Yellow had a voice like silk, royal and deep, pleasing to the ears. Black also had a voice on the deeper end, with both a biting air of authority and a playful undertone. Blue was smooth and friendly, full of cheer. Green just soundy snarky and mischievous, Red was also mischievous sounding, but was also a bit gruff. When they courused in his head, he couldn't help but marvel in how _right_ it sounded, how right their presence felt, like they were made just for him. He felt something he hadn't truly in years...he felt important. It took all his self will not to grin.

 

 _‘Hey guys!’_ he responded enthusiastically, and how did he manage that? He must of broadcasted that thought, as Green began to talk.

 

 _‘Well, since you've probably bonded with us the most, and our original form of communication involved a lot emotion, when we transitioned to talking, the ability to convey emotion carried over. So now, it's like you're literally just talking without actually saying anything,’_ she explained. Lance nodded, before realizing she couldn't see him.

 

 _‘Makes sense, I suppose But, um, on another note, how, exactly, did I go back in time?’_ he asked. He could almost see the lions shuffling awkwardly, nudging each other to talk. Eventually, Green began to speak.

 

 _‘Uh, okay. This going to sound a little crazy, but bear with me,’_ she began.

 

 _'Green I pilot a sentient robot lion that turns into a giant robot man when combined with four other sentient robot lions to fight evil space bat cat al8. I watched my friends die, died myself, and went back in time. I think I'm good,’_ Lance deadpanned, very grateful for his ability to do so.

 

_'Okay, true. So! As you know, you died. When you, um, died, your quintessence entered the Nova Plane, which is where our original forms are from and I'm going to assume you did that because your a Paladin, but even then I'm not too sure what happened. But-’_

 

 _‘Wait, you have original forms?!’_ he asked in disbelief.

 

 _‘Yeah, we do! We can still turn into them too!’_ Red exclaimed, _‘And, we can do it without losing our robotic forms!’_ Lance paused mide bit of bacon.

 

_‘Wait...you can?’_

 

 _‘Yeah,’_ Blue said, and got the impression of her nodding enthusiastically, _‘But we have to be able to talk to our um, own Paladins before,’_ she added on less enthusiastically. Lance humed thoughtfully.

 

 _‘So, theoretically, you could do that now?’_ he asked, somehow directing his question to Blue. Blue laughed, loud and clear.

 

 _‘Of course I could! In fact, when you get to your room on the Castle-Ship I'll show you!’_ The mention of space dampened the mood. Lance shifted in his seat, stealing a glance a Pidge and Hunk. The were in deep conversation, something about physics in space, and Pidge’s food was only half finished. Looking down at his cleaned off tray, and back up to Pidge's untouched bacon, he made the decision and reached over to snag a couple of pieces of bacon. Immediately, like she had a built in alert system, she whipped her head around and shot out an arm to grab back her bacon, but she was too late as Lance had already stuffed the bacon in his mouth.

 

“Sorry not sorry,” he said through a mouthful of bacon. Pidge faked gagged and shoved her tray at him.

 

“Ugh, fine, you can have my bacon, just please never do that again!” she shouted, turning her body fully towards Hunk. Lance just laughed and happily munched on Pidge's bacon. In his mind, Green cleared her throat.

 

 _‘Ahem, if you're done. When you went to the Nova Plane, somehow you managed to get ahold of the Time Strip, a completely unrelated thing, mind you, and follow our calls back in time to merge your quintessence with that of your younger self, which explains why there aren't two Lances, or one Lance with a uh, split personality, you could say. Exactly_ how _you managed to travel back in time, I don't know. But the point still stands, you_ did _indeed go back in time.’_ Lance froze, blinking.

 

 _‘Well that was uh, long and, complicated,’_ Blue said after a moment.

 

 _‘Yeah, unnecessarily so Green,’_ Red added, _‘Couldn't you have just like, said that he went back in time and merged his quintessence with his younger self’s so that's why there aren't two Lances and left it at that?’_

 

_'She could have, but by not doing that she explained it to us as well.’_

 

 _‘You're right Black, I did do that!’_ Green said proudly.

 

_‘Hey, guys-’_

 

 _‘Did you just assume my gender!?’_ Blue screeched, cutting Yellow off. Lance snorted, trying desperately not to randomly burst into laughter. Yellow sighed in exasperation.

 

_‘As I was saying, how about we let Blue and Lance have some more time to themselves, you know? Give him a chance to come to terms with his new life? A chance to accept the fact that he just went back a year in the past? And that not only can us, the Lions of Voltron, speak using words, we all can talk with him? Or that  he can communicate mentally with us the same way we do him?’_

 

 _‘Didn't we already do that?’_ Green asked, confused. Yellow sighed again.

 

_‘Yeah, but it only lasted 10 minutes.’_

 

 _‘Ooooh, okay. Makes sense, I suppose,’_ Green conceded. Lance sighed softly as they retreated to the back of his mind.

  


* * *

 

 

By the time they were scheduled for simulations, Lance was whooped. He did as well as he used in all his classes, which was as expected. So when he sat down in the simulation chair, he was tired but ready to fly.

 

“Alright team, ready to do good?”

 

“No,” Pidge scoffed.

 

“Uh, I'm always ready. To do good, that is.”

 

“Right. Of course.” Lance exhaled slowly. All he had to do was not fail. He could do that, right?

 

“Galaxy Garrison flight log 5-11-14, begin descent to Kerberos for rescue mission.” He slowly began to descend to moon, making sure to keep it as steady as possible, unlike last time.

 

“I'm picking up a distress beacon!” Pidge shouted.

 

 _‘Deja Vu, anyone?’_ Lance snorted.

 

“Alright, look alive, team. Pidge, track coordinates, Hunk, we have a hydraulic stabilizer out, get on that,” he ordered, smoothly slipping into his role as Lance the Blue Paladin.

 

“Oh no,” Hunk groaned,  bringing a hand up to his mouth. Lance sighed and slowed down to stop as Hunk unbuckled from his seat and moved to fix the stabilizer. A quick glance showed that the beacon's location had been tracked.

 

“Pidge, you wanna let them know their ride is here while Hunk fixes our shaking problem?” Pidge nodded, and moved to unbuckle herself. “Pidge please keep your harness on if you can,” he said, not turning to look at her. Pidge paused, looking sheepish, before continuing to make contact.

 

“Attention lunar vessel, this Galaxy Garrison Rescue Craft, One Victor Six Three Tango, coming in for landing and extraction in,” Pidge shot a glance at Hunk, who gave a thumbs up and moved back to his seat, “approximately,” a glance at Lance, who flashed five fingers, “five minutes.” At his crew's nods, Lance resumed the descent, making sure to fly _over_ the overhang, and guiding the ship the beacon, he set the it down with a soft thump. The ship darkened for a moment before the bright yellow, “Simulation Complete,” flashed across the screen. Behind him, Pidge and Hunk laughed in disbelief. The door slide open with a hiss, Iverson leaning against the door like always.

 

“Roll out, Donkeys,” he ordered, but even he sounded like he couldn't believe it. Lance couldn't help but smirk. They didn't lose a wing like they did last time, and he was less risky and waited for them to do what they needed to do. When they got out for peer review, Lance was actually feeling pretty proud of himself. Even Iverson looked surprised at the improvement, but he hid it well under a mask of indifference. Lance had gotten much better at reading people during his time in space, so everyone seemed like an open book to him (with varying levels of open). During peer review Lance could tell that Hunk and Pidge were holding their breath. When they came off relatively clean (as the other cadets had to scramble to find something they did wrong), they breathed a sigh of relief and moved to the waiting area.

 

“Dude! We killed it out there!” Pidge exclaimed, reminding Lance of how excited she got when they did really well on a mission. In response, Lance ruffled Pidge's hair.

 

“Yeah we did!” Pidge squawked at the action, ducking away from his hand.

 

“Yeah, I can't believe it. I mean, no offense but you aren't the best pilot and you actually did really good in the simulation and oh gosh I'm rambling and I'm sorry did I say something wrong did I upset you-” Lance cut off Hunk with a chuckle.

 

“Dude, it's okay. I appreciate the compliment,” he replied. “Seriously,” he insisted at Hunk’s doubtful look. “Besides, I didn't do _that_ well.” Pidge gasped.

 

“What’s this? Lance being humble? Why this...this is...unheard of!” Lance laughed, punching Pidge's shoulder playfully.

 

“Hey!”

 

“Yeah, but no seriously man, you did really good. Have you like...been holding out this whole time or what?” Hunk asked. Lance paused to think about it, intentionally taking more time than necessary to piss Pidge off. It worked like a charm; she wouldn't learn patience until they got blasted into space. Hunk's stomach rumbled.

 

“Oh, wouldn't you look at that. Hunk's hungry, what a surprise,” Pidge said sarcastically.

 

“I'm sorry!” Hunk apologized, “I just am used to throwing up my food and not having an appetite so this is amazing!” Lance winced, frowning.

 

_Aw man, did I really do that to Hunk? Man, I'm an asshole!_

 

Noticing Lance’s guilty look, Hunk scrambled to backtrack.

 

“B-But I mean, I uh,that doesn't always, um, happen! Sometimes other stuff, uh-!” Hunk jumped as Lance put a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Hunk, my man, you're fine. Just chill bro, okay?”

 

“Okay who are you and what have you done to Lance?!” Lance blinked.

 

“I...what?” Even Hunk seemed confused, judging by his confused expression. Pidge put her hands up.

 

“Okay, hear me out. Lance has been acting...not like himself. First, he has a nightmare,” Lance flinched, “then, he tears up when he sees me, eats his food _without_ complaining, he was also eating like he hadn't eaten real food before too! Then he somehow doesn't completely fail the simulator! I'm telling you Hunk, something's up.” Hunk's eyes widen with realization.

 

“Oh my gosh you're right!” He turns to Lance. “Are yo-” whatever he was about to say was cut off by the next group starting. They didn't press the matter any further, but they still made some small talk as the other groups slowly went through the simulation. Hunk and Pidge got so engrossed in a conversation about tech, something that was such a rarity now (despite it happening hours before) that when it would soon become a norm it would seem crazy to them, that they jumped practically 3 feet in the air when the bell rang. Lance sighed with relief.

 

“Oh thank god,” he breathed quietly. Crisis temporarily averted.

  


* * *

 

 

“Lights out in five! Everyone back to your dorms, now!” Iverson shouted.

 

“We shouldn't be doing this,” Hunk whispered behind him.

 

 _‘Story of my life,’_ Yellow commented.

 

“Relax, Hunk. We'll be fine. Besides, we need to bond as a team. We'll grab Pidge, maybe head out to town, do some fun stuff-”

 

“Okay okay, I'm just saying this here, right now, on the record. This is a bad idea,” Hunk interrupted as the lights went out with a click. Lance rolled his eyes and began to move quickly and silently forward, his year of infiltrating Galra bases and ships having taught him a lot about stealth.

 

“Y’know, for some one in a space exploration program, you don't have much of a sense of adventure,” Lance snarked quietly, smoothly dropping into a perfect crouch.

 

“All of you little “adventures” end up with _me,_ in the principal's office,” Hunk said. Lance whipped his head around and shushed him.

 

“Hunk, not so loud! The walls echo!” he hissed, sneaking a glance into the teacher's lounge. Finding that no one was looking (as expected), he slid down and began to crawl.

 

“Oh, man,” Hunk groaned. Lance shot a glare at him, before abruptly shooting up a to stop him. Hunk stumbled a bit.

 

“Why are we stopping?” he hissed quietly in his ear.

 

“Guard,” he replied in the same tone. He had read the guard patrol pattern earlier that day, and had mapped out were to stop and were to go. Sure enough, a guard walked right past them.

 

“L-5 north all clear,” he said.

 

 _‘Excellent planning, Lance,’_ Black praised. Lance smirked.

 

 _‘Why thank you.’_ Looking ahead, Lance pulled Hunk behind a wall a Pidge exited her room, casting a glance back and forth before rushing off.

 

“Where is he going?” Hunk asked. Inwardly, Lance snorted as Hunk echoed what he had said last time. Moving without warning, Lance followed her. This was going to be good.

  


* * *

 

 

The cool night air nipped at his face as Lance skillfully snuck up behind Pidge, reminding him briefly of how she died- nope, he wasn't gonna think about it.

 

“You come up here to rock out?” he asked into Pidge's ear. She jumped back with a loud strangled gasp.

 

“Oh, Lance, Hunk. No, um, just looking at the stars,” she lies. Lance raised an unimpressed eyebrow, but said nothing of it.

 

“Where'd you get this stuff? Doesn't look like Garrison tech,” he commented, peering at her setup.

 

“I built it,” she said smugly.

 

“You built all this?” Hunk asked, awed. Pidge smacked his hand away from touching her stuff.

 

“Stop it! With this thing, I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system,” Pidge said, pride visible in her eyes. Lance couldn't help but smile; she was always so proud when she made something, it reminded him of her tall hot dorky older brothe- Lance barely contained a yelp as sharp claws dug into his neck before leaving as quickly as they appeared.

 

“All the way to Kerberos?” he asked, reaching a hand up to inspect his wound. His fingers brushed against soft fur as a head pushed them back. Meanwhile, Pidge groaned. “Look, it's just, you go ballistic every time the instructors bring it up,” Lance said. A fuzzy paw bopped him on the neck.

 

“Second warning Hunk!” Pidge warned as Hunk touched her stuff again. The paw bopped him again.

 

 _‘Blue?’_ he hissed in his mind. He got a velvet soft fuzz covered head bumped against his nape in response.

 

 _‘Hi,’_ she greeted, flicking a tongue over his scratched neck. Lance resolutely ignored her.

 

“Look, Pidge, if we're going to bond as a team we can't have any secrets. And, I'm worried about you, man. As a friend.” Pidge sighed.

 

“Fine. The world as you know it is about to change. The Kerberos Mission wasn't lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake-Stop touching my equipment!” Pidge shouted. Hunk groaned and rolled to the side, Lance firmly ignoring the head bopping against his nape. Pidge sighed, then continued, “So, I've been scanning the system, and picking up alien radio chatter.”

 

“Whoa. What? Aliens?”

 

“I'm serious. They keep repeating one word: Voltron. And tonight, it's going crazier than I have ever hear it,” Pidge said, looking at them seriously.

 

 _‘Spooooooky,’_ Red commented.

 

 _‘Red this is not a movie,’_ Yellow chidded.

 

 _‘Hypocrite!’_ Green accused. Lance ignored them.

 

“How crazy?” Lance asked. Just then, the PA buzzed to life.

 

“Attention, students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation is Zulu Niner! Repeat: all students are to remain in barracks until further notice!” Iverson ordered. Hunk stood up.

 

“What's going on?” he asked nervously.

 

_‘Wait for it….’_

 

_‘Red, shut up.’_

 

“Is that a meteor?” Hunk asked, pointing a finger to the distance, “A very big, meteor?” Pidge grabbed her binoculars and pressed them to her face.

 

_‘Is it bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a-’_

 

“It's a ship!” she exclaimed. For show, Lane ripped the binoculars out of her hands a pressed them to his own face.

 

“Oh my god, your right! But wait, it’s not one of ours.” Pidge shook her head.

 

“No. It's one of theirs.”

 

“So wait. There really are aliens out there?” Hunk gulped, and the trio watched the ship streak through the sky and crash into the distance with a boom.

 

“We gotta see that ship!” Pidge exclaimed, voice filled excitement and anticipation. Lance nodded sharply and followed her, motioning for Hunk to join them with a wave of his hand.

 

“Hunk, come on!”

 

“Oh, this is the worst team building exercise ever.”

  


* * *

 

 

“What the heck is that?” Lance asked to nobody in particular. He scanned the area with a trained eye once more. “Man, we’ll never get past all those guards,” he said, lowering the binoculars.

 

“Aw, man,” Hunk said to his right. “Yeah, yeah, I guess there's nothing to do but head back to the barracks, right?” he asked hopefully, already moving to leave.

 

“Wait. They set up a camera in there and I grabbed its feed. Look!” Pidge whispered.

 

“Hey! What are you doing?” asked the onscreen Shiro. Memories flashed before his eyes, particularly ones of Shiro getting impaled with a spear, but he forced to them down.

 

“Calm down, Shiro. We just need to keep you quarantined until we run some tests,” Iverson soothed, or at least, attempted to.

 

“You have to listen to me! They destroy worlds!” Shiro grunted, “Aliens are coming!” he shouted.

 

“Hey, that's Shiro, the pilot of the Kerberos mission!” Lance exclaimed.

 

“Guess he's not dead in space, after all,” Hunk commented.

 

“Where's the rest of the crew?” Pidge demanded.

 

Onscreen, Iverson asked, “Do you know how long you've been gone?”

 

“I don't know. A year? Look, we have no time. A group of elite aliens are coming here for part of a weapon. They're already on their way. They will destroy us and enslave us, just like they have thousands of other planets! We have to find Voltron!” Shiro warned, and something about his speech seemed off.

 

He didn't have time to ponder this, as Pidge gasped, “Voltron!”

 

“Sir, take a look at this. It appears his arm has been replaced with a cyborg prosthetic,” one of the medtechs said.

 

“Put him under until we know what that thing can do,”  Iverson ordered.

 

“No, don't put me under! There's no time!”

 

“They didn't ask about the rest of the crew,” Pidge said, sounding disappointed.

 

“Why aren't they listening to him?” Lance hissed.

 

“We have to get them out,” Pidge said with finality.

 

“Uh, I hate to be the voice of reason, always,” Hunk interrupted, “But weren't we just watching on TV because there was no way to get past the guards?”

 

“That was before we were properly motivated. Surely will be able to think of something.”

 

“Maybe we can get some hazmat suits and sneak in like medtechs,” Pidge suggested with a smirk on her face.

 

“Or we dress up like Cooks, head back to the dorms, sneak into the commissary--little late night snack.” Hunk looked at them hopefully. Lance shook his head.

 

“No. What we need, is a distraction.” Just as he said that, something exploded behind him.

 

“Ahh! Is that the aliens? Are they here? They got here so quick!” Hunk shouted, cowering behind his arms.

 

“No, those explosions were distraction, for him,” Pidge jabbed her finger towards a familiar hoverbike, “The Garrison's headed towards the blast, and he's sneaking in from the other side!”  Pidge exclaimed. For show, Lance grabbed the binoculars.

 

“Hey! That's Keith, no way!” he said, already standing up to chase after his (future) fellow Paladin.

 

“Are you sure?” Hunk called after him.

 

“Yeah!” he replied.

 

“Keith? Who's Keith?” Lance ignored her and kept running.

  


 

* * *

 

  


Lance swiftly rushed over and slipped his arm under Shiro's shoulder, taking some of his weight from Keith. Seeing Keith was much easier, considering he didn't watch him die, but it still hurt to look at him, so just wasn't going to think about it. Speak of the devil, Keith turned to face him.

 

“Who are you?” he asked.

 

“Lance McLain,” he responded smoothly, “You might not remember me, but I was the top of the cargo class.” Keith blinked at him.

 

“So I assume you in flight class now?” he said slowly. Lance waved his hand.

 

“Yeah, but, I feel like we have more important things we could be doing, like I don't know, saving Shiro?” he asked rhetorically. Keith blinked at him again.

 

“Right, right.” They began to carry Shiro between them, heading out towards Keith's hoverbike.

 

“Man, their back and they do not look happy!” Hunk exclaimed from behind them. “Uh, do you mind if we catch a ride with you?” Hunk asked Keith. He didn't wait for a response as they all began to climb on, but Pidge let out a yell as Hunk's weight caused the bike to tip backwards.

 

“Is this _thing_ going to be big enough for all of us?” she asked.

 

“No,” Keith responded. He revved the engine and swung them around, racing away from the approaching buggies.

 

“Why am I holding this guy?” Pidge asked to the air.

 

“Hey, we did all fit!” Hunk exclaimed, sounding relieved. Lance snuck a look behind them.

 

“Can this thing go any faster?” Lance asked, feeling the same panic and concern he had last time filling him once more.

 

“We could toss out some non-essential weight,” Keith growled through gritted teeth.

 

“Wow,” Lance replied. “I feel so insulted right now.”

 

“Big man, lean left!” Keith ordered. Hunk did so, causing everyone to shout.

 

“Aw, man! Mr. Harris just wiped out Professor Montgomery! No, no. He's fine,” Hunk commented.

 

“Big man, lean right!” Keith ordered again. Hunk did, causing them to swerve of the cliff edge. While everyone else screamed in fear, Lance screamed in excitement. They crashed against the next lege, sending their pursuers flying.

 

“Guys? Hatatata. Is that a cliff up ahead?” Hunk stammered. Keith smirked as everyone else began to scream and shout.

 

“Yup,” he said, speeding up until they flew off the cliff edge. Lance whooped with joy as his team screamed, their pursuers skidding to a stop at the cliff edge. He felt weightless for a moment,  the wind blowing his hair back, the icy night air burning his lungs and exposed skin. It only lasted for a second before they were plummeting through the air.

 

“What are you doing? You're gonna kill us all!” Hunk shouted.

 

_‘Damn Hunk, stealing all my lines.’_

 

“Shut up and trust me!” With an expert maneuver, Keith righted the bike and they were soon racing off to Keith's cabin, the sun setting in the distance.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i twas originally not going to do this, and take the story elsewhere, but i like how it turned out. there's a lot of just writing the the show, but as youll notice ive changed a lot of things.
> 
>  
> 
> and i told myself, "only one update today Catt, you can post the next chapter in a few days," but lets be honest im probs gonna post again soon
> 
> i cant help myself i just like making people happy bc making people happy makes me happy
> 
> anyways hope u enjoyed the chapter!


	6. T1: The One Armed Hunky Pidgeon: Cabin Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pidge and hunk have some thoughts, Lance isnst our pov and shiro ^$ &%,%[$ @#$% #&*@ ^&@/%$ @[$@

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is a little shorter than usual!

Pidge was suspicious.  Which, all things considered, wasn't too hard to imagine, but she wasn't suspicious of Shiro coming back without her dad and brother. No.

 

She was suspicious of Lance.

 

When she had first seen him that morning, she had been shocked. Red and bloodshot eyes with bags under them that filled with tears when he saw her, was not Lance. Add to that, he _clearly_ had a flashback to...something when he saw her. Granted it could have been the nightmare that caused it, and said nightmare very well could have taken a traumatic moment in his past, twisted it and thrown his friends in there, but still. It was very un-Lancelike. He had eaten without complaint.

 

_Eaten his food without complaint._

 

See the thing about Lance is the _he always complained._ This time, he didn't. He also practically _inhaled_ his food. And on top of all that, he almost looked like he wanted to take part in her and Hunk's conversation. Looked like he _understood._ He smiled to himself. Stole her food.

 

_He fucking vibrated._

 

People don't randomly vibrate. She knew that. But Lance still vibrate like it was normal. Flash forward to the simulation. He _didn't take risks. He waited for them to be done. He wasn't impatient. He didn't argue._

 

_He actually acknowledged they were a team._

 

Flash to when he found her on the roof. He didn't write her off as insane when she mentioned aliens. Was concerned for _as a friend._ Later, didn't comment on the (admittedly) attractive woman, which was so _not Lance_ that for a moment she was convinced that he was a different person.

 

Now, she watched as he made small talk with Keith, hands clasped behind his head. He had still had a haunted look in his eyes, one that had been there since that morning, but he was cheerfully talking now. Really, everything about him seemed off, with the way he carried himself to the way he talked. He was miles more mature today than he was any other day off the week, but was also still the goofy boy she had known. He was relaxed against the couch, holding himself with confidence, but his eyes still flickered around the room anxiously, like he was expecting something to attack them. He was also acting oddly familiar and kind to Keith, someone who he previously didn't know and hated. It was all _extremely_ suspicious.

 

“Pidge, are you okay? You've been frowning at Lance for five minutes.” Pidge jumped as Hunk suddenly spoke behind her. She whipped her head around to glare at him.

 

“Jeez, Hunk, don't scare me like that!” she  Hunk gave her a apologetic smile.

 

“Sorry, I couldn't help it,” he apologized. Suddenly, a loud thump echoed throughout the house.

 

“What was that?” Hunk asked nervously. Keith stood up.

 

“I'm gonna go check on Shiro,” he  said, before moving briskly out of the room. They stared after him for a moment, before Lance  silently followed him. That was another thing she noticed. He moved silently. Like he weighed nothing. It was eerie. Pidge shuddered and turned to Hunk.

 

“Have you noticed anything...weird, about Lance?” she asked with a tilt of her head. Hunk frowned at her.

 

“Yeah, I noticed that too. What do you thinks going on?”

 

“I don't know, but I don't like it.” Hunk sighed.

 

“I don't know, but, you weren't there when he woke up. He was _really_ shaken. Thought I had died,” he said with a shake of his head. Pidge winced.

 

“Man, that must of been a hell of a nightmare. Do you think anyone else was there?” she questioned. Hunk nodded.

 

“Yeah, aside from you and I, I think Keith and Shiro might've been there.” Pidge tilted her head.

 

“Keith and Shiro? What makes you think that?”

 

“Well, it's just. When he saw them, he gave the same look he had given you and me. Y'know, the, “I've seen you die,” kind look,” Hunk explained. Pidge nodded.

 

“Makes sense."

 

“Hey guys,” a voice greeted causally. They jumped in unison, letting out twin screams. Pidge turned to glare at them.

 

“What the hell, Lance!” Lane only laughed.

 

“Well, Shiro woke up,” he said, jerking a thumb behind him, “Keith's setting him up with some new clothes. He'll probably be out soon to let him change.” The two nodded. Lance let out a yawn and stretched like a cat. “Well, I'm gonna crash,” he said, flopping face first into the couch. “Wake me up if there's ever food,” he said, voice muffled. Soon, his breathing slowed, signifying that he was asleep. Pidge and Hunk blinked at each other.

 

“That was...unexpected,” Pidge said finally.

 

“Yeah,” Hunk agreed. A moment later, Keith came into the room. He cleared his throat awkwardly, before turning to them.

 

“So uh, do you, want any food?” he asked. Pidge shrugged.

 

“Sure,” she said.

 

“Yes!” Hunk shouted. He turned to shake Lance awake. Lance shot awake, grabbing the hand Hunk had used to shake him awake with a vice-like grip. Hunk shouted, startled, and Lance blinked in confusion before letting Hunk go.

 

“Sorry!” he apologized. Hunk gave him a reassuring smile.

 

“It's okay.” Pidge eyed Lance suspiciously. He normally never startled awake like that, and he'd certainly never been violent before. Once glance at Hunk showed he shared these concerns.

 

“Why'd you wake me up anyway?” he asked.

 

“Oh, Keith was asking if we wanted food,” Hunk explained. Lance turned to Keith with a raised eyebrow. He put it down at Keith's nod. Hunk turned to Keith.

 

“What do you have?” he inquired. Keith blushed slightly.

 

“No much,” he admitted. Hunk stood suddenly and clapped his hands together.

 

“I'm coming with you!” he announced, “Even if all you have is mac and cheese, it'll be the best Mac and Cheese you've ever had!” With that, Hunk grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to his kitchen, ignoring all of Keith's protests. Lance let out a huge yawn, lying back down.

 

“Wake me up when the food's down,” he said, before drifting off to sleep once more. Pidge sat there for a moment, confused on what to do until Shiro wandered in.

 

“Hey,” she greeted. His head snapped to her, before relaxing.

 

“Oh. Hey,” he responded, sitting stiffly next to her. Pidge shuffled awkwardly, before pulling out her laptop. She could feel Shiro's stare on her as she typed away.

 

“What are you doing?” he asked eventually.

 

“Scanning the Garrison system. Just making sure they don't know where we are,” she said. Shiro shifted beside her and leaned in to look at she was doing

 

“Do they?” Pidge snorted.

 

“They think they do. I've hacked their systems to let them think we're on the other side of the desert,” she said smugly. Shiro snorted.

 

“Sounds like you're quite the hacker,” he complemented. Pidge waved him off.

 

“Oh, this is nothing compared to what I can really do.”

 

“Oh yeah?” Shiro challenged. “Show me.” Pidge cracked her knuckles and smirked. This was gonna be fun.

 

* * *

 

 

Shiro woke up on the floor. This, surprisingly, didn't surprise him. What surprised him was the wooden floor pressed against his face. He groaned and flopped on his back, a hand immediately shooting to his chest. When found nothing, he looked down.

 

He was in his Galra prisoner uniform.

 

Shiro blinked a couple times to make sure he wasn't hallucinating and nope, he was still wearing it. He had no hole in his chest, no spears to be found. There were no Looking around, he saw...Keith's cabin? There was a bed next to him, which Shiro gladly sat on. The rest of the room wasn't very exiting, and everything was very...dusty. Suddenly, the door burst open, revealing Keith.

 

“Keith?” he asked dumbly.

 

“Hey, Shiro,” he greeted, sitting on the bed next to him, “You okay?” he asked, concern filling his face. Shiro blinked a couple of times.

 

“Uh...yeah, I think so?” he said awkwardly. Keith shook his head with a soft smile.

 

“Good. I had to bust in and and save you from the Garrison when you crashed. Here,” he said, pressing a familiar pair of clothes in his arms, “you can change into this.” Shiro blinked again. _Right,_ he reminded himself, _I tried to warn them..again. Which, what is up with that?_ He didn't have any more time to ponder his time travel before someone was speaking.

 

“You gonna watch him change?” they asked with a snort, and Shiro looked up to find--Lance? The smirk on his lips faltered for a second when he looked at him, but it quickly devolved into a smile.

 

 _‘I've never seen Shiro so confused before,’_ Lance said in his mind, which was, what? Shiro had had people speak mentally to him before, knew what it was like, he'd met an alien like that during his time with the Galra, and Lance wasn't that alien.

 

He had a million questions, but instead he settled for an eloquent, “What?” Keith glared sharply at Lance.

 

“How long have you been standing there?” he snapped. Lance smirked, leaning against the doorway.

 

“The whole time,” he said, flashing his teeth. Keith sighed.

 

“Wow, you're really good at sneaking up on people, Lance, where'd you learn that?” Keith asked, but it sounded more like an accusation. Lance just crossed his arms and grinned, which seemed like two conflicting signals to Shiro.

 

 _“Space, while fighting evil space cat-bats and flying lions to defeat them,”_ he said. Shiro doubled blinked, checking to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He seemed to be doing that a lot, but still. When Lance spoke, it sounded...different. He could still understand him, but something seemed off. More importantly, Lance was apparently also back in time? Keith presumably wasn't, but wouldn't he have understood Lance?

 

“I don't speak Spanish, Lance,” Keith  grumbled, crossing his arms and whoa. Spanish? Shiro didn't speak Spanish. He'd never spoken Spanish except for the the odd word or phrase. He turned back to Lance, who was grinning.

 

“You don't? Well, _guess that means I can talk shit about you,_ ” Lance said. When Keith only glared, he laughed. “Okay, okay, I'll stop, I'll stop,” he said. Keith glared for a second more, before uncrossing his arms.

 

“Shiro, this,” he gestured towards Lance, who waved with a grin, “is Lance. Lance, as I'm sure you know, this is Shiro,” Keith introduced.

 

“Heya Shiro!” Lance greeted cheerfully.

 

“Hello, Lance,” he responded. They stared at each other a moment more before Lance spoke.

 

“Well, I'm gonna go see what the others are doing.”

 

“Others?” Shiro echoed, knowing full well he should ask about Hunk and Pidge. Instead of an explanation, Lance just grinned.

 

“Yeah. Don't wanna interrupt the bonding of _our leader and his right hand, pun inhanded,_ ” he joked with barely contained laughter, before turning and disappearing into the hallway, leaving  Shiro nothing to do but stare at where he had left, wondering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> spoooooooky
> 
> bere ye have it, a chapter. the next few parts of the ep have a lot of "off camera" moments, and im def gonna be exploring those in this fic
> 
> so expect more like this
> 
> especially som more shito, hes fun to write, hope enjoyed his little pov at the end :)
> 
> p.s there's a reason this is slow burn right now ;)
> 
> p.p.s i am so sorry the chapter title sUCKS ik
> 
> p.p.ps twas gonna post earlier but im going skiing tomorrow (which is why this is shorter) and my dad dragged me into jelping pack which is UGH PACKING but slso YAY SKIING ser yea
> 
> p.p.p.p.s thanks for all your nice comments! they really help motivate me, and it also just feels nice bc im not really a social person and like my cousin is my only friend and no one i know except my family seems to care about/like me and i kinda have low self esteem bc like no one compliments or talks to me like ever and it just feels reallly nice to know you all like my dumb fic???? so thank you! uwu uwu uwu


	7. T1: The Rise of Voltron: Part 2 of Ep. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so sorry for the wait! like really really sorry!

 

The door swung open with creak, revealing Keith and Shiro. Keith strode forward and pulled the cloth out from over his bulletin board.

 

“What is this?” Shiro asked, and again, something was off with the way Shiro was talking.

 

“I can't explain it, really. After getting booted from The Garrison I was kind of, lost, and found myself drawn out to this place. It's like something...some energy, was telling me to search,” Keith explained.

 

 _‘That would be you,’_ Lance said. Blue snorted.

 

 _‘That would be me,’_ she agreed.

 

“For what?”

 

“Well, I didn't really know the time...until I stumbled across this area,” Keith raised his hand to rest on the area labeled ENERGY SOURCE. “It's an outcropping of giant Boulders caves covered in these ancient markings. Each tells a different story, but they all share clues leaving to some, some arrival happening last night. Then, you showed up.” Shiro turned around to face them.

 

“I should thank you all for getting me out. Lance, right?” Shiro asked, holding out his hand and god damn it it sounded like he knew the answer to that. Lance slowly reached out his hand, but hesitated for a moment because fuck all he could think about was Shiro getting impaled with a spear and- forcing the memory out of his mind, Lance shook Shiro's hand. Shiro turned to Pidge and Hunk.

 

“The nervoys guy’s Hunk. I'm Pidge,” Pidge introduced, shaking Shiro's hand. “So, did any one else of your crew make it out?”

 

“I'm not sure,” Shiro said, “I remember the mission and being captured. After that, it's just bits and pieces.”

 

“Yeah, sorry to interrupt, but back to the aliens. Where are they now? Are they coming? Are they coming for us? Where are they at this very moment?” Hunk rambled nervously.

 

“I can't really put it together. I remember the word “Voltron” though. It's a weapon of some kind. They're looking for it, but I don't know why,” Shiro said. “I think we need to find it before they do.”

 

“Well, last night, I was rummaging through Pidge's stuff, and I found this picture. Look it's his girlfriend,” Hunk chuckled and held up a picture of Pidge and Matt and fuck Matt looked so good in it.

 

“Hey, give me that!” Pidge snapped, snatching the picture away (Lance spared a moment to bemoan the loss of Matt), “What were you doing in my stuff?”

 

“Well, I was looking for a candy bar, but then, I started reading his diary-”

 

“What!?”

 

“-and I noticed the repeating series of numbers the aliens worse are searching for looks a lot like a Fraunhofer line.”

 

“Frown who?” Keith asked with a cute little frown (don't judge okay?).

 

“Its a number describing the emission spectrum of an element, only, this element isn't exist on Earth. I thought it might be this Voltron. I think I can build a machine to look for it, like a Voltron geiger counter,” Hunk explained.

 

“Hunk, you’re a genius!” Lance complimented.

 

“It's fascinating, really. The wavelength looks like this,” Hunk said, holding up the example.

 

“Give me that!” Keith demanded, snacting the paper away from Hunk. He walked up to his board and slowly slid the paper up to it. It fit exactly over the pictures terrain.

  


* * *

 

  


“Okay, I admit it. This is super freaky.”

 

“I'm getting a reading!” Hunk exclaimed, following the signal. The group followed him through the terrain until they came across the cave that Lance new to hold Blue. Hunk's jaw slowly dropped. As they entered the cave, Hunk gasped quietly.

 

“Woah.”

 

“What are these?” Shiro asked to nobody. Lance walked towards one of the walls with a small smile on his face.

 

“These are the lion carvings I was telling you about. They're everywhere around here,” Keith explained. Lance reached up a hand and brushed away some dust, causing all the carvings to light up suddenly, filling the cave with a blue glow.

 

“They've never done that before,” Keith said, sounding alarmed. Lance smirked as the ground beneath them began to glow, but still screamed when the floor collapsed, because, hello, just because he was prepared doesn't mean he was ready. Lance groaned as he sat up, his blue eyes trailing up until they met Blue's yellow ones. Her purr reverberated in him, and he was lucky the others were occupied or else they would of notice the small vibration that surly ran through him. The group scrambled to their feet to stare a Blue in awe.

 

“Is this it? Is this the Voltron?”

 

“It must be.”

 

“This is what's been causing all this crazy energy out here.” Keith started walking towards Blue's particle barrier. “It looks like there's some kind of force field around it,” Keith said, and Lance bit back the urge to say something snarky.

 

“Does anyone else get the feeling this us staring at them?” Lance asked, and now that he was here again Blue was totally staring at him.

 

“No,” Shiro replied.

 

“Yeah. The eyes are totally following me,” Lance said with finality. Keith stopped at the edge of Blue’s barrier and placed his hands on it.

 

“I wonder how we get through this.”

 

“Maybe you just have to knock,” Lance said, and true to his word he knocked on it twice. The group gasped and jerked back as Blue's barrier powered down, the ground around her beginning to glow until they were launched in the the vision.

 

“Uh, did everyone just see that?” he asked after it had ended.

 

“Voltron is robot. Voltron is a huge, huge, awesome robot!” Hunk shouted.

 

“And this thing is only one part of it! I wonder where the rest of them are,” Pidge wondered.

 

“This is what they're looking for,” Shiro said.

 

“Incredible,” Keith breathed. Suddenly, Blue bent down and opened her mouth, the ramp extending out. Lance smirked and jogged into her cockpit, settling down on the chair. He let out a small yelp as the chair shot forward, the others appearing behind him.

 

“Whoa,” Pidge and Hunk said together.

 

“Allright, very nice.”

 

“Alright guys I just want to point out so we're all aware. We are in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now.” Blue purred in his mind.

 

“Whoa. Did you guys just hear that?” Lance asked, remembering he wasn't supposed to know anything.

 

“Here what?” Keith asked.

 

“I think it's talking to me,” he said, reaching to press a few buttons. Blue stood up and roared, causeing everyone but Lance to scream. “Okay, got it. Now, let's try this,” he said, and then they were bursting out if the side of the mountain. He laughed as everyone screamed.

 

“You are. The worst. Pilot. Ever!” Keith shouted. Lance just grinned as Blue ran along the desert floor.

 

“Isn't this awesome?” he asked with a cheeky grin.

 

“Make it stop. Make it stop,” Hunk pleaded.

 

“I'm not making it do anything. It's like its on autopilot!” he denied.

 

“Where are you going?” Keith asked as they headed out to the sky.

 

“I said it's on autopilot! It says there's an alien ship approaching Earth. I think we're supposed to stop it.”

 

“What did it say, exactly?”

 

“It's not like it's saying words. It's more like feeding ideas into my brain, kind of,” Lance explained, admittedly terribly.

 

“Well if this thing is the weapon the looking for why don't we just, I don't know, give it to them? Maybe they'll leave us alone,” Hunk suggested. “Sorry lion. Nothing personal.” Blue just laughed.

 

“You don't understand. These monsters spread like a plague throughout the Galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There's no bargaining with them. They won't stop until everything is dead.”

 

“Oh. Never mind then.” They flew in a silence for a while, before Blue let a roar, a Galra ship appearing in front of them soon after.

 

“Oh my god. Is that really an alien ship?” Lance resisted the urge to say “no shit sherlock and instead flew Blue to the side of it.

 

“We gotta get it outta here!” Pidge shouted as ship began to fire at them.

 

“Hang on!” he ordered, expertly dodging the laser fire, his training as a Paladin kicking in. “Alright, I know what to do!”

 

“Be careful, man, this isn't a simulator!” Pidge shouted at him. Lance grinned.

 

“Well that's good! I alway wreck the simulator!” With a deft push of his hand, he fired Blue's mouth cannon, slicing a hole through the side of the ship. Flying around the continuing fire, he dove Blue down to the ship and raked her claws across it, sending an explosion throughout the ship. “Alright!” he shouted with glee. Whipping Blue around, he turned and flew away from the ship as tge others complimented him. “Time to get these guys away from our planet.”

 

“Oh, no!” Hunk bemoaned.

 

“They're gaining on us!” Pidge warned.

 

“I know!” he replied.

 

“Okay, seriously, now we think having aliens follow us is good? I am not on board with this new direction, guys!”

 

“Where are we?” Keith asked.

 

“Edge of the solar system. There's Kerberos,” Shiro answered.

 

“It takes months for a ship to get out this far. We got out here in five seconds! Pidge said. Suddenly, in front of them, a wormhole appeared. Lance grinned, because hey they were almost there.

 

“What is that?” Hunk shouted.

 

“The lion wants us to in there,” Lance informed them.

 

“Where does it go?” Pidge asked, and god he was reminded of how _young_ she was.

 

“I-I don't know,” he answered. “Shiro, you're the senior officer here. What should we do?” Shiro didn't waste time on his reply.

 

“Whatever's happening, the lion knows more than we do. I say we trust it, but we're a team now we should decide together.” The cockpit was silent, void of any disagreements. Lance shrugged with a cheeky grin on his face.

 

“Well, guess we're all skipping class tomorrow.” And with that. he flew Blue into the center of the wormhole.

  


* * *

 

  


Pidge, Hunk and Keith screamed around him as they flew through the wormhole, and while he agreed that going through a wormhole was weird they _didn't have to scream in his ears god._ The lions laughed in his mind, but he just sent them a mental middle finger as the shot out beside Arus. Beside him, Hunk gagged and turned the side, vomiting all over Blue like come on man. Blue growled her displeasure in his mind.

 

“So sorry,” Hunk managed before vomiting again.

 

“I'm just surprised it took this long,” Pidge commented, and yeah he had to agree with her.

 

Behind him, Shiro decided to speak. “I don't recognize any of these constellations,” he said. “We must be a long way from Earth.” Lance snorted quietly. They were very very very very very very very very very very- fuck he go on forever really. The were very much very far away.

 

“Well, the lion wants to go this planet. I think..I think its going home.” Descending to the planet quickly, Lance felt his situation _really_ set in. He was doing this. Again.

 

“Guys, _personal space!_ Hunk, your breath is killing me!” he complained.

 

“Um, is it just me or is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious wormhole? Why are we listening to a robotic lion anyway?” Hunk demanded.

 

“It got us away from the alien warship, didn't it?” Lance snapped, feeling very defensive of Blue.

 

“I don't know if you noticed. but we're _in_ an alien warship,” Keith said, and for some reason Lance had the urge to reply with, “Keithy we _are_ an alien warship.”

 

Instead, he settled for raising an eyebrow and asking, “You scared?”

 

“With you at the helm? Terrified.” Lance had to admit that that was a great comeback. So he said just that.

 

“Y'know what I have to admit that was a great comeback, and for that I will refrain from teasing you for the rest of the day,” he said, and he could _feel_ the weird look Shiro was giving him, but he said nothing of it.

 

“So uh, Shiro, what do we do?” Pidge asked. Shiro blinked, seeming surprised, before replying.

 

“First, we find out where we're headed. Lance?”

 

“I don't know,” he replied, very much knowing. “The lion's not talking to me anymore, but I think maybe we're heading to an alien planet?” he suggest sarcastically. At Shiro's dry look, he relented. “Okay, well it told me to go into the wormhole, it showed me some picture of a...castle, I think, which I'm assuming is on this planet, Lance said, feeling proud of himself for making something up so quickly. And, speak of the devil, there it was, so he said just that. “Hey. Would you look at that, there's a castle right there!” he exclaimed.

 

“Wow,” they all breathed, Lance included because fuck he forgot how pretty it was when it was landed on Arus. It glinted beautifully in the sunlight, sunbeams glistening through the air. It powered on as Blue approached, the points shining. Lance flew Blue down to land in front of the castle.

 

“Keep your guard up,” Shiro ordered

 

“Something wrong?” Pidge asked and god damnit why did she look so young again.

 

“My crew was captured by aliens once. I'm not going to let it happen again.” That was fair, Lance decided as Blue lowered her head and let them walk out. As soon as all their feet were on the ground, Blue stood, causing everyone to gasp.

 

“No! I knew it was going to eat us! No!” Hunk screamed as Blue roared, subsequently opening the door. “Oh, the door is open. Guess I was wrong about you,” Hunk told Blue, who laughed to Lance.

 

 _‘I love your friends,’_ she told him.

 

 _‘They are great,’_ he agreed. They slowly walked through the door.

 

“Hellooo?” Hunk called, his voice echoing. He shrugged when the all glared at him.

 

“From the size of the lion, expecting the steps to be bigger,” Pidge said, and as she said that, the identity scan computer activated. Everyone stood in shock as the computer scanned them and the lights flicker on in the hallway right in front of them.

 

“I guess we're going that way.” They followed the lights through the castle, Hunk occasionally calling you a hello until the finally reached the room that held Allura and Coran. It was here when Lance paused.

 

Because it was here when things really kicked off.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gaaaah im sorry this took so long to post! winter brek ended and life started up again and i had shit ton of things to do, and afgjk i was just really busy! hope you enjoyed the chapter uwu! hopefully ill be able to post nore soon! 
> 
> and also sdiohfdry thank you all so much for your nice comments! honestly it means so much to me like u dont even know but still! and sftuokk 1000 hits and 130 kudos??? adfghjk thank you guys so much!!!! 
> 
> this is how i feel uwu
> 
> https://youtu.be/fTGiGXxc81o
> 
> i should have the next part up soon!
> 
> sorry this seams kinda rushed but like...there's so much that happens in the span of like 5 minutes and asfhjkll sorry
> 
> love you guys!


	8. T1: The Rise of Voltron: Part 3 of Ep. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeet

“Hello?”

 

“Where are we?” Of course Lance knew where they were, but to divulge that information wouldn't be a wise course of action. 

 

God, now he was starting to think how how Allura talks.

 

“It's some kind of control room,” Pidge commented, inspecting the control panel. As the panel lit up and the sleep pods started to rise out of the ground, he couldn't help but appreciate the intuition of Altean technology. Really, to be able to not only detect that they were there in the first place, scan them, and then figure out if they were a threat, then letting Allura and Coran out of their pods, it was ingenious. Of course Alfor's consciousness was stored in the ship in the form of an AI, but still even for him to be able to-

 

“Are these guys… dead?” Hunk asked from his hiding place, snapping Lance out his Altean appreciation trance, which is a thing he'd never thought he'd be saying (or thinking, really). 

 

He was getting off topic, which was there really a topic in the first place? God, he really need to focus-

 

“Father!”

 

-and oh shit Allura was falling towards the ground. He jerked forward to catch her with all the grace of a Sleep Chamber Knees Coran because seriously he was not being very focused at all.

 

“Hi,” Lance breathed, because she had jammed her forehead into his stomach and though she didn't weigh much it still fucking hurt like jeez file down your head some lady you're a freaking hazard-

 

“Who are you? Where am I?” Allura asked confusedly, confusion written all over her (admittedly) beautiful features. 

 

(Matt was better looking though, and yeah sue him if he was a little biased, but he would probably always believe that, at least for now, given that his options were become a furry, get into tentacle porn fast, or make himself like one of his teammates, none of which were happening)

 

“I'm Lance, and you are currently in my arms, in a castle, on a planet, in space,” Lance informed her, and he couldn't help the sarcasm from slipping through, it was in his blood.

 

“Your ears..”

 

“Yeah? What about them?”

 

“They're hideous,” Allura spat, pushing herself away in disgust, “What's wrong with them?”

 

“Nothing! What's wrong with  _ your  _ ears, huh?” he retorted, and as he was saying that Allura reached her hand up to his ear, but as the Blue Paladin and as a trained fighter, he was having none of that so he yanked her arm and (gently!) replaced her by his side, holding her out of arm's reach as she struggled in his grip.

 

“Who are you?! Where is King Alfor?! What are you doing in my castle?” she demanded.

 

“Listen lady, I all we know is that a giant blue lion brought us here!”

 

“How do you have the blue lion?! What happened to its paladin?! What are you all doing here? Unless..” Allura trailed off, going slack in his grip, “How long has it been?”

 

“We don't know what you're talking about, but why don't you tell us who you are? Maybe we can help,” Shiro calmly suggested, shrugging Hunk off his shoulder, only for Hunk to immediately grab on again. Shiro only sighed.

 

“I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea,” she announced, and it almost sounded like she expected them to care, “I've got to find out where we are and how long we've been asleep for,” she announced to herself? He really didn't know. Allura approached the control panel, placing her hands on to activate it. Pidge, who was standing in front of it, froze and looked at it with a weird look (she looked both scared, confused, and curious).

 

“Okay, that's how that works.” Suddenly, to Lance's not so great and not even real surprise, the pod next to him opened, revealing the one and only Space Uncle, Coran (Coran) the Gorgeous Man (x10). Coran gasped as he came to, then screamed as he noticed the (future) Paladins. 

 

“Ah! Enemy combatants!” Coran leaped out of his pod to attack Lance, an attack might he add, that he dodged easily. When he landed, Coran had to flail his arms and lean on an empty pod to stay upright, and Lance really felt like bursting into laughter because  _ god  _ Coram was hilarious. 

 

_ “Quiznak!  _ You're lucky I have a case of the old “sleep chamber knees.” Otherwise, I'd grab your head like this, wrap you up like so-- one, two, three,” he snapped his fingers, “sleepy time!” Lance only raised any eyebrow.

 

“Is that so? Well, before you did that, I'd,” Lance jabbed the air twice, then did an actually effective jump kick (literally no one said anything?), “like that,” he said after he finished his demonstration, crossing his arm. Coran shot forward indignity, so fast Lance was actually surprised he wasn’t dizzy. 

 

“Oh really?! How could you do that if I've already come at you with this -- Ha, ha, ha hey!” Lance blinked at him. He was tempted to ask what that would actually do, but he held his tongue. 

 

“Man, these guys are good,” Hunk commented.

 

“It can't be.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“We've been asleep for 10,000 years!” Lance watched as the others’ jaws dropped in shock before they quickly got themselves together.

 

“Planet Altea and all of the planets in our solar system have been destroyed. Coran, Father is gone. Our entire civilization...Zarkon,” Allura growled. Lance could agree.

 

“Zarkon?” Shiro asked, much like last time, except instead of being a panicky question, is was a..question question?

 

“He was the king of the Galra,” Allura said, turning to Shiro, “A vile creature in the enemy to all free people.”

 

“I remember now,” Shiro said, sounding like he had remembered for years, “I was his prisoner.”

 

“He's still alive? Impossible!”

 

_ ‘Possible,’  _ Lance mentally snickered.

 

_ ‘Regretfully,’  _ Black added.

 

“I can't explain it, but it's true. He's searching for some kind of super weapon called Voltron.”

 

“He's searching for it because he knows it's the only thing that can defeat him, and that's exactly why we must find it before he does.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Princess, you must eat. Its been 10,000 years,” Coran coaxed.

 

“I'm not hungry,” Allura dismissed.

 

“Man, 10,000 years? How are you still alive?” Lance asked. “Unless those sleep chamber whatevers feed you nutrients like and IV or slow down your metabolism, you should be dead,” he half said to himself. Lance frowned. “Unless it puts you into a vegetative state, but then it would be impossible to wake you up, or at least it would be on our planet, so who knows.” Keith gave him a weird look, probably because he could hear him with his enhanced hearing which made him wonder, did liking Keith make Pidge a furry?

 

“Man, I haven't eaten since breakfast, and I'm starving.”

 

“Yeah, but you throwing up, like, five times.”

 

“Hmm, good point.” Hunk reached forward to grab some of the Food goo and start to eat it.”

 

“It's hard to believe your civilization created such advanced technology 10,000 years ago. It must have been an incredible,” Shiro said.

 

“Yes, it was… but now it is gone and we're the last Alteans alive.” Coran looked to Allira and put a hand on her shoulder, and she pulled him into a hug. She then walked over to her pod to see the Space Mice.

 

“Looks like we're not the last ones after all.” Before Lance had time to question how the mice were altean, the alarm started to blare. 

 

“A Galra battleship has set its tracker to us!” Coran exclaimed. 

 

“How did they find us?”

 

“Maybe because we brought the lion here?” Lance guessed. 

 

“How much time until they arrive?” Shiro asked.

 

Corn frowned. “At their speed? Oh, well, carry the two… I'd say probably a couple of days.” Lance was tempted to call bullshit, but that would kinda defeat the purpose of hiding his time travel. 

 

“Good. Let them come! By they get here, you five will have reformed Voltron, and together, we will destroy Zarkon's empire!”

 

Hunk burped loudly. “Sorry,” he apologized, “Food goo.”

 

“Princess,” Shiro addressed, “there are five of these lions. How are we going to find the rest?”

 

Allura looked down to the mice, before a determined look crossed her face, and that's when Lance knew. 

 

It was time to head for the control room/map room/star room place.

  
  


* * *

 

  
  


“These are coordinates," Pidge said.

 

_ ‘Yeah no shit honey.’  _ Lance bit down on his bottom lip because  _ holy shit _ did the lions have great comedic timing.

 

“The Black Lion looks like it's in the same location as the Blue Lion,” Pidge observed.

 

“Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage!” Keeping a straight face was hard (he could just  _ hear  _ Matt laughing). Really, really hard.

 

“Very observant,” Allura praised. “That's because the Black Lion is in the castle.”

 

“To keep the Black Lion out of Zarkon’s hands, King Alfor locked it in the castle. It can only be freed if the other four lions are present.”

 

“As you have found,” Allura began (which was bullshit they didn't find), “the lions choose their pilots. It is a mystical bond and cannot be forced. The quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in his lion. Together, they form something greater than science can explain.” Lance really wished she would stop monologuing. Really.

 

“The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times, someone who's men will follow without hesitation. That is why, Shiro, you will pilot the Black Lion.” Lance really wanted to know how she knew this. She didn't even know them!

 

Fuck, did they even tell her their names?

 

“The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a pilot of intellect and daring. Pidge, you will pilot the Green Lion.” Lance shifted in his stance to stand up straight, because he hadn't heard what traits the pilot of Blue needed to have.

 

“The Blue Lion is adaptable and caring. The Blue Lion and its pilot are the most adaptable of the team. Its pilot must be someone who is good with people, and as the leg of Voltron, its pilot will hold the team together.” Lance blinked, because that nade feel a little fuzzy because, he had never heard Allura compliment him.

 

“The Yellow Lion is caring and kind.”

 

_ ‘Also done with the other lions’ shit.’  _ Lance snorted.

 

“Its pilot us one who puts the needs of others above his own. His heart must be mighty. As a leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together.” Hunk gave a questioning grunt and pointed to himself. Lance couldn't relate.

 

“The Red Lion is tempermental and the most difficult to master. It's faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. It's pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instincts and skill alone. Keith, you will fly the Red Lion. Unfortunately, I cannot locate the Red Lion's coordinates yet. There must be something wrong with the castle. After 10,000 years, it might need some work.” Or maybe she's with the Galra. Or maybe Alfor's AI is corrupt. Or both. 

 

“Don't worry, we'll find it soon,” Coran assured, “They don't call me “The Coranic” for nothing. It's because it sounds like a mechanic, so “Coranic”, mechanic. It's not-- It doesn't sound… exactly like it. It's similar.” Before Coran could dig himself a deeper hole, the mini lions roared and began to form Voltron.

 

“Once all the lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known, the Defender of the Universe.”

 

Lance raised his hand. “I I have a question. Didn't you say that the bond between a lion and their pilot couldn't be forced? Why did you assign us lions? You don't even know what we're like?” This was a question he needed to be answered. 

 

“I can feel your quintessence,” she said simply. 

 

“Oh.”

 

“Wait. Okay, we're going to be in there in flying lions. Got that part. How are the lines turn into legs? Also, is this going to be a long trip? Because I have to pee. Do you people pee?”

 

“We don't have much time. Pidge and I will go after the Green Lion. Lance, you take Hunk and get th yellow one. Keith, you stay here.” Shiro put a hand on Keith's shoulder. “If you locate the Red Lion, go get it,” he commanded.

 

“In the meantime, I'll get this Castle's defenses ready. They’ll be sorely needed.”

 

“I'll ready apart and load the corn and so that you can reach the Green Lion.”

And he did just that. Flying Blue off of Arus and into space, Lance wondered how everyone was being do calm. Really, he had lived through this before and he wasn't okay with it, so were they?

  
  


_ “We can only keep the wormholes that lead to the other lions Open for two of your Earth hours, so you'll have to be quick about your work. The good news is that according to my readings, both planets are relatively peaceful. So, if you do get stuck, they could be relaxing places to live out the rest of your lives. Well, enjoy the trip!” _

 

As the other's began to panic, Lance smirked.

 

This was gonna be good.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i am so sorry for the wait
> 
> literally its been forever and i am so deeply sorry, but i just couldn't force myself to write nor find the motivation to, but i finally got it done. i know its really short but i wanted to give you guys something.
> 
> and also, i just want to thank you all for you continued support, bc it really helped me with writing this chapter (even as short as it is). really, your comments make me so happy, bc its kinda hard to believe that people like this, yknow? 
> 
> anyway, i am so so so sorry u had to wait this long, and i promise ill try my best not to do it again. hopefully since spring break just started, ill be able to get another, longer, chapter in.
> 
> i hope u enjoyed the chap!
> 
> also over 200 kudos???and over 2000 hits??? ty sm u guys!
> 
> (comments are appreciated, and u dont have to comment, but it does make me feel good and like i said before, it helps me to write bc like it really makes it seem like u all care and havnt abandoned me?? so yea, comments are nice)


	9. not a chapter [[HIATUS]]

Hey guys.

I love this fic. I really do. It's my baby, and I'd love to see it finish, but...

I've really just lost interest in this fandom. This story felt like something that I _had_ to work on, and I don't want that. I want to write, because I want to, not because I feel like I have to. And, now that summer has ended, I don't have as much free time as I used to.

I'm not abandoning this fic forever, because I truly do want to see it to the finish, but I need to be honest with myself and what's best for me, and that's why I've decided to put this fic on hiatus.

I'm sorry if I'm disappointing any of you by doing this, but I just can't force myself to write something I'm no longer passionate about.

To all of you who care for this fic, don't worry.

I'll finish it one day. I just need a break.

I hope you can understand.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work I'm ever posting, and the first in this fandom, so please be nice.


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